What do these 3 things have in common?
Well, they are all part of the unbelievably crazy drama unfolding in the bloggishere… which centers around local blogger Donn Edwards, who has been sued for daring to share his thoughts on the dodgy spam ‘n scam timeshare operation Quality Vacation Club (QVC).
I heard about this the other day at breakfast with some friends, and I almost choked on my cappuccino when I heard the story. The very idea that QVC actually think they can sue someone for sharing their experience on being spammed, tricked into a sales pitch in the thought that you have won a prize, and then getting spammed again by the very same people (after ordering that they be taken off the phone list)… it’s just insane! They are the ones who should be sued for tricking people and spamming them through dodgy mailing lists.
Personally, I think almost everyone I know, including myself, has been tricked by clubs like QVC and the likes. My gran was spared getting conned by the fact that family members had already learnt their lesson, but there are hundreds or even thousands of people who fall for this, and then battle to get out of their contracts.
Then there is the freedom of speech issue. Bloggers have been using the web for expressing their own PERSONAL views for a good few years now, and unlike traditional media, we are not responsible for our views, as these are only our opinions, and not necessarily facts. In Donn’s case, it was fact – but it was also his views on these facts.
I don’t see how Quality Vacation Club think they can win this battle, and I look forward to seeing them crash and burn in a big way. However, if for some reason they happen to win… I think that will pretty much be the end of blogging as we know it.
This is a big issue for many reasons people, and the more people know about this case and discuss it, the better. There are a number of ways you can help Donn in his case, including doing this tag, clicking here to read more about the case and social networking it to hell and back.
I am going to tag 302, Po, Dolce, Louisa and HoTsTePPa – each of you can post about this however you like, and the only rule is that you need to link to Donn’s site and mention QVC.
That is insane!! Don’t they realise they are doing even more harm to their reputation – than the damage a blog could do! If anything they should have apologised to the guy and left it out the media!
I love it when a company’s dirty little tactics are exposed!
It’s crazy hey. QVC have LOADS of money it seems, with individual contracts forking out some R1,000 a month or more… and as it’s almost impossible to cancel a contract, they must be raking in a huge amount. So far they have spent at least R50, 000 on legal fees, the mind boggles.
Hi Rox
The timeshare business is a rip-off!!! They always phone me with this nonsense. I don’t know where they get the telephone numbers from!!
I agree – they’re annoying and they mislead people. If anything, Donn Edwards should be suing them, hard to believe they have the nerve to sue him just because he spoke about them hey, sjoe.
I wouldn’t say that we’re 100% not responsible for the stuff we blog about – after all if you blog about what other people consider to be private (even though it’s your story to tell too) then the least you can do is give them a fake name.
But I don’t think this company will be successful if they go ahead with the lawsuit. If someone says something bad about you but it’s fair comment then you don’t really have a leg to stand on.
I’m a bit out of it tonight – but I’m going to read the full story tomorrow and I’ll also do a post on it. My family has also had their run-ins with the time share fiends – although not this specific company.
There are quite a lot of underlying issues here – and while I agree that there should be some sort of code of ethics on posting specific names and whatnot, I still feel that blogging is a platform where we are able to speak freely.
In this case especially, suing for ‘defamation of character’ for posting the truth about something that is very close to a scam certainly needs names and pointing fingers.
Take a look through Donn’s blog when you get a chance, it’s a very interesting read and pretty laughable if it weren’t costing him so much time, effort and resources.
The comedy gets worse by the day. Now the chairman on QVC gets caught out for making false statements under oath.
Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me at all.
I was taking a read through QVC’s little section on Hello Peter, and some of the things I read there were pretty insane – blatant lies, blacklisting members for no solid reason, members being unable to cancel… it just gets crazier and crazier.
I don’t think they stand a chance in hell – but I really feel bad for you that you had to go through this charade in the first place dude, it’s a really kak situation.
Hi
I have started a group on facebook in support of Donn. Please join and get all your mates too aswell.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=47897759702
regards
concerned Blogger
Cool – joined, will spread the word.